An aircraft often includes one or more batteries for providing electrical power to the aircraft's electrical systems when power is not available from an onboard electrical generator or from ground equipment. Most current aircraft batteries are made of lead-acid cells or nickel-cadmium cells. Recently, lighter-weight lithium-ion batteries are being increasingly considered as alternatives to lead-acid and nickel-cadmium batteries in order to help minimize the overall weight of aircraft. Such lithium-ion batteries typically include a number of individual lithium-ion cells that are connected in series. While considerably lighter in weight, lithium-ion batteries, if not properly maintained and kept under control, can cause fires, which can be catastrophic. Unlike lead-acid and nickel-cadmium batteries, in order to provide the necessary safety controls lithium-ion batteries require imbedded electronics to monitor and regulate the condition of the batteries' lithium-ion cells. Such imbedded electronic circuitry is often called a battery management system (“BMS”). Though the functionalities of different battery management systems can vary, a BMS can be configured to perform several monitoring and control functions, including: measuring a battery's state of charge to determine the amount of remaining energy stored in the battery; measuring a battery's state of health to determine the battery's life expectancy; providing battery protection monitoring to ensure safe battery operation; providing charge control for regulating charging current and voltage; providing discharge control to ensure that no cells are overly discharged; and providing cell balancing to ensure that all lithium-ion cells are charged to substantially the same capacity. By preventing improper charging and discharging of lithium-ion cells, a BMS can prevent sub-optimal battery power output, shortened cell lifespan, cell damage, and potentially hazardous over-heating. By providing cell balancing, the BMS can ensure that there are no individual undercharged cells that will discharge prematurely and cause the entire battery to become inoperable, or overcharged cells that will lead to cell venting and excessive cell temperatures.